Blown Head Gasket repair w/pics

[rnoswal]

Well, since you have the head off, I'd put a top dead center detector on the engine, then put a short 2x2 (wood) in the cylinder and turn it until the piston pushes the piece of wood up to the detector and that will stop it from moving. Then just keep applying pressure until the bolt comes loose.

Good luck

Russ

[Staceman]

Find someone with a 1/2" ELECTRIC impact. (not the 12Volt kind either) May sound foolish, but that was the ONLY way to remove a stripped/cross threaded harmonic balancer bolt from the kid's V6 Rodeo!

Since I "inherited" a 1/2 electric impact, I don't even use the air one anymore.

[IHateHacks]

Well I finally got the crank bolt off. To anyone that wants to know how to do it I will tell you. First though, I would like to say what did not do it. 5 different impact guns-nope. Car in gear, ebrake on, someone standing on the brakes-nope. Did not get the chance to use the starter bump method. This is what works and what will work every single time-crowbar in the flywheel through the starter hole. Worked so good I think Im going to patent that procedure. Walked the crank pulley off with 2 flathead screw drivers. Had timing belt off in less than 5 minutes after that. I was messing with this crank bolt for 4 days, but now that its off the head is ready to be lifted off. I just don't have someone to help me lift it. I can do it myself, I bench over 205lbs atm, I just don't want to risk banging it into something like the radiator support or the fender. Loosened head bolts in the order shown in the TSRM and did it in 3 passes. Did not need the SST for the head bolts, a NAPA 10mm allen head socket worked just fine for $4.65. Will have pictures in 2 hours.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Edit: And yea Toyota of Wallingford (yet again) sucks bad. Walked into the parts department, asked if they could get SST's and all I got was a bunch of BS. First I got "No, nope." Then I got, "AHHH Toyota is closed today I can't do anything." Then it was, "They are so much money you won't want to buy them" Then I got, "Gimme your name and number and I'll get back to you" Yeah right. Does anyone else have a problem with buying SST's from their dealership?

[IHateHacks]

I've decided to send the head to a machine shop. I've gone this far I might as well go all the way. Cylinder walls still have crosshatch marks on them so it is a safe bet that this engine was rebuilt at some time. I've also determined my BHG was in cylinder 6. Spark plug insulator in cyl 6 was brown. All of the other spark plugs were normal. All of the valves looked the same in cylinders 1-5, cylinder 6 looked totally different. If you look closely at the last picture of the head gasket, look at the last cylinder to the right and look at the top, it is oval shaped. So it is determined that when this engine was rebuilt the HACK that put it back together hacked it up. Either overtorqued or did not torque in the right sequence.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by ddmcse

why do you need to pull the crank pulley ? you can release the tension and slip the timing belt right off .

Yeah, you CAN do it that way, but if you want to make sure you have everything lined up properly, then you want the crank pulley and lower timing cover off to line up the timing marks, properly. One tooth off may not do any damage, but it will damn sure make it run like ass. Better to be safe than sorry. Believe me. I'm a mechanic. I don't play around when it comes to doing timing belts. I'm not about to buy someone a new engine because i didn't do a timing belt job properly. Funk that.

[Monkey]

No offense, IHateHacks, but apparently the 5 impacts that you were using to get the crank pulley bolt off were shit. I have an Ingersol Rand 1/2 inch impact, and i have NO problem getting crank bolts off with it. If it wont fit because of space constraints, an extra long 1/2 inch drive ratchet with the appropriate socket will get it off, just as well. By the way, the pry bar in the starter is nothing new. I've been doing that for years, when i get a stubborn crank bolt that won't work with the impact or just ratchet method. It's my last resort when the first two options fail. It hardly ever comes to that option, though. Then again, i'm accustomed to doing things to get the job done, that most of you probably haven't done or seen, before. When you do it long enough, you tend to learn easier ways to do it and short cuts. Time is money, in my line of work. That's why i hate having to wait around for parts. It kills me.

[IHateHacks]

"No offense, IHateHacks, but apparently the 5 impacts that you were using to get the crank pulley bolt off were shit."

Yes I agree the craftsman was a POS, but the titanium series IR and the last one I used that required 120psi were definitely not junk. I talked to some other professional mechanics and they said that I should have used a 3/4" impact gun. And I was just being sarcastic about patenting that little trick. It says it right in the TSRM. I just didnt want to f-up one of the teeth on the flywheel, but when there is no other choice, I quickly overcame my fear.

"By the way, the pry bar in the starter is nothing new."

It wasn't in the starter, it was in the starter hole in the bellhousing. And if you were doing it for years why didnt you drop a dime and help me out before when I was asking- "Except for the starter method, how does everyone else loosen their crank bolt?"

No offense but it seems that most (not all) people here are more about 1-uping each other and claiming that they are superior, then about helping each other. To be frank I really dont care how long you say you've been a mechanic or about how you brag you've done something before. I respect someone much much more when they just drop a hint about what Im having trouble with. Those are the people that make me say damn that guy knows his stuff. Sorry, you just made me mad claiming all 5 of the guns were junk when you've never even seen them, you just make a blind assumption. The guns werent even mine so I dont know why Im even mad. Its the fact that you just come to a conclusion with no information other than they didn't get off the crank bolt. Remember a properly torqued 7M crank bolt is torqued to 195 ft-lbs. Most other manufacturers only require around 100 ft-lbs. Those guns take off crank bolts everyday at a BMW dealership because the crank bolts aren't torqued to 195 ft-lbs. All crank bolts are not created equal, but you should have known that.

[IHateHacks]

I stripped the head of everything but the cams. I'll have a picture up tomarrow. I'm doing all of this to show all the people who aren't mechanics that anyone can do a head gasket job. You don't have to be superman. You just need the knowledge. Speaking of which, to anyone who wants to know how to get the heater union off (that fitting that the heater hose goes on on the top back of the engine) you'll need a 32mm deep socket.

[IHateHacks]

Sending it out today. Next picture will be it looking brand new. Here's a picture of the good ol' EGR cooler. I can see this being the source of a mysterious coolant leak via that big stupid plug Toyota felt the need for putting in there. Ill ask it again (just like the 4 plugs that hold on the no. 3 cylinder head cover) Why did Toyota just throw plugs (at rediculous sizes) in various areas throughout the 7M? Its not like they serve any purpose on planet earth. Why didn't they just cast it over like the rest of the head? I think its pay back for buying a car just because its turbocharged. Compared to other manufacturers Toyota design sucks dick.

[IHateHacks]

Does this surface look good enough for a metal head gasket?